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The Good and The Bad News for Everest Climbers

Mt. Everest will
soon become more accessible to adventurers with the construction of a
65-mile highway linking the village of Jiri to Lukla—considered the
gateway to Mt. Everest. Despite the good news, however, the capital of
Nepal, Kathmandu, continues to suffer the side effects of climate
change.

And, as Kathmandu is the nation’s production and consumption center,
any climate-related hazards impacting daily life there will have a
spillover effect on the rest of this poor Himalayan nation.
Nepal’s glaciers have lost about a third of their ice reserves since 1977, according to Bloomberg News.
The ice melt is having a serious impact on the weather, as glaciers
impact climate dynamics such as the high-altitude jet streams that can
bring monsoons or prolong droughts.

“It’s affecting daily life,” said Ram Sharan Mahat, Nepal’s finance
minister, who projects just a one-half percent economic growth this year
due to the effect on crops from erratic monsoons. “I’m sure that’s
largely attributable to climate change,” he said.

Aside from the instability of the weather and its effect on the
nation’s economic health, Kathmandu is plagued by smog that obscures the
distant snow-capped Himalayas, the main attraction for adventure travel to Nepal.

Unfortunately, Nepal lacks the resources to do much about climate
change. It is the second poorest country in Asia after Afghanistan,
according to World Bank figures, and it lacks the network to forecast
complex changes in rainfall, snow and temperatures linked to ice
melting.

The U.S. Department of Defense states that climate change is a
“threat multiplier” that escalates the risk of internal conflicts and
uprisings. This has become a concern for government officials in the
U.S. and Nepal, which suffered a decade-long Maoist uprising that ended
in 2006. Yet, conflict could easily resurface as the glaciers continue
to melt, causing a shortage of water that could threaten the ability to
feed the nation’s 70 million people.

Meanwhile, the government’s plan to build the highway from Jiri to
Lukla could cut out as much as four days’ walk for trekkers and
mountaineers, or allow them to avoid taking a flight from Kathmandu to
Lukla.

“Tourism will increase enormously once the new road is built,” said
Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

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About Me

Charles G. Irion is the award-winning author and founder of Irion Books LLC which includes Remodeling Hell, Autograph Hell, Car Dealer Hell and Divorce Hell. In addition, Charles has authored a series of murder mystery novels set against the backdrop of the Seven Summits; they are Murder on Everest, prequel Abandoned on Everest, Murder on Elbrus, Murder on Mt. McKinley, Murder on Puncak Jaya, Murder on Aconcagua, Murder on Vinson Massif and Murder on Kilimanjaro.

A successful investor and businessman, Irion is the founder of U. S. Park Investments, a company that owns and brokers manufactured home and RV communities. In addition, Charles released Roadkill Cooking for Campers - The Best Dang Wild Game Cookbook in the World.